Category: Drees

Funeral Card Friday: Frances Drees Grilliot

8/11/2016

Frances M. Drees Grilliot passed away 17 Feb 1988 in Sidney, Ohio. She was the mother of my husband's paternal grandmother, Naomi Grilliot Schroeder. Her funeral card lists her husband and all ten of her children.

Funeral Card Friday: Frances M. Drees Grilliot - The Spiraling Chains

Funeral Card of Frances M. Grilliot

Frances's obituary was published in The Community Post of Minster, Ohio on 25 Feb 1988.

Funeral Card Friday: Frances Drees Grilliot - The Spiraling Chains

The Community Post (Minster, OH), 25 Feb 1988

Frances's birth is recorded in the Shelby County, Ohio probate birth records. She was born 28 Dec 1900 in Van Buren Township, Shelby County. She was the youngest child of J.M. "Mike" Drees and Mary Wilkens Drees. Mike was 49 years old and Mary was 43 years old at the time of her birth. (Click on image for larger view.)

Birth Record Source: "Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6ZX-TZR : accessed 01 May 2013), Frances Drees, 1900.

For more information about the GRILLIOT Family click HERE.
For more information about the DREES Family click HERE.

©2016 Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Tombstone Tuesday: Johann Michael Drees

6/23/2014

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On my recent trip to the Family History Library, I looked up a few birth, marriage, and death records for the Drees Family. Frances Drees Grilliot was my husband's great-grandmother on his Dad's side of the family. Her grandfather, Johann Michael Drees, was born in 1812 in Garrel, Cloppenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany, and immigrated to America in 1833.

Johann Michael, a blacksmith by trade, was one of the first settlers of Minster, Ohio, and actually served as the town's first mayor. Because he was quite an influential person at the time, a short biography was published in the book, History of Western Ohio and Auglaize County by C.W. Williamson (1905). This biography is great, because, among other information, it states Johann Michael's hometown, tells me when and how he came to live in Ohio, and says who he traveled with. (His hometown is also listed on his gravestone, which is shown below.)

Using their online catalog, I discovered that the Family History Library does have Catholic Kirchenbuch records for Cloppenburg going back into the 1600s, so I was excited to look through them. Here is Johann Michael Drees' baptism record below. His father's name is also Johann Michael, which I already knew, because the biography I mentioned above referred to him as 'Jr.' He was baptized 19 May 1812 (second record from the bottom). His mother's name was Maria Catherine Högemann.

Baptism Record for Johann Michael Drees (b. 1812)

Johann Michael died 18 Feb 1878 and is buried in St. Augustine's Cemetery in Minster. Interestingly, his gravestone (below) states that he was born 19 Jun instead of 19 May. Now, I am pretty certain that that baptism record says '19 May.' April is clearly right before May, but then if you look at the top of the next page, it says 'July.' So, either there weren't any baptisms in June, there was some mistake by the priest or scribe who entered the records, or Johann Michael (or his descendants) was (were) just mistaken about his birth month.

Gravestone Photo Source: FindaGrave.com; photographed by A. Chronicler.

Baptism Record Source: FHL Film 909936, Kirchenbuch, 1613-1875, Katholische Kirche Cloppenburg

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Tombstone Tuesday: Bernard and Frances (Drees) Grilliot

6/9/2014

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This is the tombstone of Bernard Otto Grilliot and Frances Marie Drees Grilliot, who were the parents of Naomi Grilliot Schroeder, my husband's paternal grandmother. They are buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in McCartyville, Ohio (Shelby County).

Bernard was born 16 November 1898 in Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio. His parents were Nicholas Grilliot and Amelia Magoto, who were both Ohio-born children of French Catholic immigrants. Frances Marie Drees was born 28 December 1900 near McCartyville. She was the youngest child of J.M. "Mike" Drees and Mary Catherine Wilkens, who were both Ohio-born children of German-Catholic immigrants.

Bernard and Frances were married 31 May 1921 at Sacred Heart Church in McCartyville. They had ten children, born between 1922 and 1940. Bernard ran a local farm implement business, which he later sold to his sons, Bernard "Buddy" and Tom Grilliot. Bernard Otto Grilliot passed away 24 February 1980 and Frances Grilliot passed away 17 Feb 1988.

Photo Source: FindAGrave.com; photo taken by Joan Shoffner.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Sunday's Obituary: J. M. "Mike" Drees

5/17/2014

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This is the obituary for Johann Michael (commonly known as "Mike") Drees from the 28 Mar 1941 edition of The Minster Post. Mike Drees was the maternal grandfather of my husband's paternal grandmother (got that?). In other words he is one of my husband's great-great-grandfathers.

As you can tell by reading the obituary, Mike was an influential man in the area and was very social. He reported for the local newspaper, which, I have to say, is great for my research of the family, because there is often a heavy bias in the newspaper on what his children and extended family members were doing from week to week. He was also a farmer, and he was not shy about mentioning his own farming accomplishments and activities in the weekly newspaper round-up.

Mike Drees was a son of German Catholic immigrants, Johann Michael (also called 'Mike') Drees and Maria Catherine Wellerding. (The obituary incorrectly says 'Caroline.') His father, a blacksmith, was one of the founders of the town of Minster, Ohio, and served as the town's first mayor.

The decedent had nine children; a daughter, Katharina Bernadine Drees, with his first wife, Maria Gertrude Berning (who is not mentioned here). She passed away less than two years after her daughter was born. Shortly after her death in 1880, Mike married Mary Catherine Wilkens, with whom he had eight children. His youngest child, Frances Marie Drees, was the mother of my husband's grandmother, Naomi Grilliot Schroeder.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Wedding Wednesday: Grilliot-Drees Wedding

2/25/2014

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Frances M. Drees and Bernard O. Grilliot

Bernard Otto Grilliot and Frances Marie Drees were married on May 31, 1921 in Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McCartyville, Ohio. They are the parents of my husband's paternal grandmother, Naomi Grilliot. Here is a wedding photo and below is the description of the wedding from one of the local newspapers, The Minster Post. (Click on images for larger view.)

The female attendants are Eleanor Drees, the bride's sister, and Ursula Hilgefort, who was the daughter of Frances's much-older half-sister, Katherine. Even though Ursula was technically her niece, she and Frances were nearly the exact same age, so they were probably more like sisters. Cletus and Magloire Grilliot were Bernard's younger brothers.

During this time, the family used the 'Grillio' spelling of the surname instead of 'Grilliot,' because that made it easier for people to pronounce it correctly. Bernard's father, Nicholas, ran a local general store as well as a farm implement business. Bernard started his own farm implement business in the 1930s.

Bernard and Frances had ten children - seven girls and three boys. They were married for 58 years. Bernard passed away in 1980 and Frances in 1988.

Bernard and Frances were married by Fr. Edward Lehman, a familiar name to Catholics in the area even to this day. The main Catholic high school that serves the area around Sidney and Piqua, Ohio was named after Fr. Lehman in 1970.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Census Sunday: The Drees Family, 1850

12/8/2013

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Today's census schedule show the family of Johann Michael Drees, my husband's great-great-great grandfather through his paternal grandmother's branch. In 1850, Johann Michael, or John Michael, was living in Minster, Ohio and working as a blacksmith. (Click on image for a larger view.)

The John M. Drees Family, 1850 U.S. Census

John Michael was 38 years old and living with his younger second wife, Catherine. His first wife, Christina Elisabeth Schemmel, passed away on July 30, 1849 and he was married later that year toMaria Catherine Wellerding. The five children listed on this census form are Christina Elisabeth's children. My husband's great-great grandfather, J.M. "Mike" Drees was not born until 1851. Also living with John Michael is his younger brother, Henry, also a blacksmith, who later goes on to become a Catholic priest (and actually the head of his order in the United States - good topic for another blog post). The 44-year old woman, 'Agnes Swelerding,' is likely Catherine's mother.

After researching this family more, I discovered that Johann Michael Drees is actually somewhat of a 'celebrity' in the history of Minster. He was one of the founding members of the town and served as the town's first mayor. His was the subject of a short biographical sketch in The History of Western Ohio and Auglaize County, by C.W. Williamson (published in 1905):

Biography of Johann (John) Michael Drees, The History of Western Ohio and Auglaize County, pages 838-839.

Here is a photo of John Michael Drees that was published in Pilgrims All: A History of St. Augustine Parish, Minster, Ohio, 1832-1982. Personally, I see a pretty good resemblance between John Michael and my father-in-law (his great-great-grandson), especially considering there are four generations separating them.

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Matrilineal Monday: Mary Wilkens Drees

12/2/2013

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Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to do something I have not done in awhile: research a branch of my husband's family tree almost from scratch. I have been able to trace most of my husband's branches back to the point at which they came to America in the 19th century - some lines even further back, but until recently, I had not earnestly tried researching the family of my husband's great-great-grandmother, Mary Wilkens Drees (1857-1942). Why didn't I? Part of the reason lies in the fact that she married into the Drees family - a large, influential family in the area - so I had always been preoccupied with collecting information and documents pertaining to THAT branch of the family, and she sort of got placed on the back burner. Another reason is because, when I did try to dig further back in time, I now know that I was going off of false parentage information that was listed in her obituary and on her death certificate, so even when I did a quick search, nothing relevant seemed to come up.

Mike and Mary (Wilkens) Drees with their youngest daughter, Frances (my husband's great-grandmother)

For awhile now, I've had Mary's obituary and death certificate. She married J.M. "Mike" Drees sometime around 1880-1881, after Mike's first wife passed away. In her obituary, her parents are listed as 'Theodore Wilkens' and 'Mary Fortman,' and in her death certificate, they are 'Theodore Wilkens' and 'Catherine Fortman.' While searching through documents, I found that there was no Theodore Wilkens anywhere in the area old enough to be her father, BUT in the 1880 Census, I do find a Theodore Wilkens living with his parents, J.H. and Elizabeth Wilkens AND a sibling named Mary Wilkens. The family lives just over the county line, very close to where her future husband is living. Mary's age is a couple of years off from the 1857 birth date listed on her death certificate, but this is as good of a lead as I've had, so I just go with it.

Along with Theodore and Mary, there are six other children in the household, so I begin to research these siblings of Mary Wilkens. Almost right away, I find Theodore's death certificate on FamilySearch.org and his obituary in The Minster Post newspaper archives, both of which list his parents as Henry Wilkens and Elizabeth Fortman. I use these websites to look up the same documents for a couple other of Mary's siblings. The parents' names agree with those of Theodore, AND Mary is actually listed as a sibling in a couple of the obits. Now, I know I have the right family in the 1880 census.

Theodore's 1916 obituary states that his father, Henry, died in 1908. One of my favorite pieces of information to search for with regard to a deceased person is his/her will, and luckily, FamilySearch,org has an extensive collection of probate records from Shelby County, Ohio during this time period. I almost-too-easily find the will of John Henry (J.H.!) Wilkens, and in it, he listed all of his children, including the married names of his daughters. Golden. AND based on the date of the will, I went back to the old issues of The Minster Post and found John Henry's (Johann Heinrich's) obituary, too:

Not only does this obituary list John Henry's children, but it also lists his age at death, where he was born in Germany (Twistringen, Hanover), his year of marriage, the year of his wife's death, where he lived prior to Shelby County, Ohio, and that his parents also made the trip over from Germany. In the 1900 U.S. Census, John Henry is living with his son, Theodore. That census form states that he immigrated to America around 1830, so I know he has spent most of his life in America. I then am able to find him, his wife, Elizabeth, and their children in the 1860 and 1870 census forms, living with John Henry's parents, John Henry and Catherine Wilkens. Quite serendipitous, really, and it helped that the family stayed in the same county and township for so many decades. It appears that the elder John Henry passed away sometime between 1870 and 1880, because Catherine is listed as a widow living with her son and grandchildren in the 1880 census.

Just a couple of days ago, I was looking through another of my favorite collections on FamilySearch: Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800-1977. I was able to find the elder John Henry's Declaration of Intention to become a citizen from 1844. But what is interesting about this document, is that it is actually a replacement of the original document, and it recounts an important event in this family's life that I probably would have never known about otherwise (see my transcription below:)

"John Henry Wilkins of the county aforesaid makes solemn oath that he made his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States seven years ago, in the Court of Common Pleas of Miami County Ohio, that he received at that time a certificate of the clerk of said court of that fact: But that six years ago last spring his house was consumed by fire, and said certificate was consumed in it."

So, the fire would have occurred around 1838, and they probably would have been living in Miami County, Ohio, which is one county south of Shelby County. By the 1840 Census, he is living in Shelby County. Would he ever have picked up and moved to Shelby County if not for the fire? I'll probably never know for sure, but it has really made me think about how a family's future (and not just the immediate future, I'm talking generations down the line, as well) can be changed by events such as these.

©2013, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Funeral Card Friday: Frances Drees Grilliot

Tombstone Tuesday: Johann Michael Drees

Tombstone Tuesday: Bernard and Frances (Drees) Grilliot

Sunday's Obituary: J. M. "Mike" Drees

Wedding Wednesday: Grilliot-Drees Wedding

Census Sunday: The Drees Family, 1850

Matrilineal Monday: Mary Wilkens Drees

Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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